Rubber Chicken Banquet
Rubber Chicken Banquet is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek term used to refer to a repetitive and very predictable featured evening activity held at most TG Conventions and various other events.
The term comes from a range of entrees frequently served at such activities, where the main course is typically boneless breast of chicken either on a bed of {whatever}, with {whatever} sauce, or stuffed with {whatever}. Such dishes are staples of the catering departments of hotels and restaurants. These dishes are typically easy to consistently prepare for a group of 50-500, offer a liberal profit margin, and are something that most individuals will willingly eat with few complaints, and usually few raves as well.
Such an activity is frequently reported as enjoyable by those relatively new to TG events, but they are often regarded as repetitious and monotonous by those exposed to several iterations.
The history of this activity at TG conventions can be traced to the annual "Pink Banquet" at Dream, a 1970s vintage TG event based in Oregon.
The activity is usually promoted as a featured dress-up affair. It almost always begins with a happy hour with a cash bar with captive-audience pricing. Seating is usually provided to the masses using 72" banquet rounds with eight seats per open-seating table for plebeians and six per reserved table for organizers and featured guests. A dais is sometimes used, made up of 2-3 banquet longs for senior organizers, keynote speakers, and notable guests.
Dinner will almost always segue into some kind of a "program" featuring one or more of a keynote speaker, drag show, awards presentation, fashion show, pageant, talent show, etc.
Sometimes the evening will continue with a deejay for dancing or occasionally a live band.
Rubber Chicken Banquet becomes reality
The term came into reality during Diva Las Vegas 2002 when a prankster couple bribed a waiter into serving an actual gag-shop rubber chicken to one of the organizers who was known to use the term.
Intent of this article
This item is presented as a satirical and somewhat sardonic overview of a frequently-occurring activity within the TG community. It is also intended as an "easter egg" for those casually surfing this Wiki. :)
